The Milan Stock Exchange emerged as a prominent player in the European market, closing trading sessions with the Ftse Mib index showing a progress of 0.70%, reaching 40,356 points – levels not seen since 2007.
While other European exchanges closed sluggishly, with economic operators focusing attention on potential protectionist measures from the Trump administration regarding trade tariffs, Milan`s Piazza Affari distinguished itself with a counter-trend performance.
Other European markets concluded the day negatively: Frankfurt and Paris both shed 0.47%, while London retreated by 0.21%. In contrast to the general trend, alongside Milan, only Madrid advanced, gaining 0.52%.
The BTP-Bund spread narrowed significantly, closing at 101 basis points after briefly touching the psychological threshold of 100 points (reaching 99.9) during trading – the lowest levels since 2021. The yield on the Italian 10-year bond stood at 3.7%, while the German counterpart was positioned at 2.69%.
On the currency market, the euro maintained a substantially stable position at 1.12 against the dollar. Gold experienced a heavy decline, trading at 3,182.1 dollars per ounce with a drop of 2.04%. Oil was also in negative territory, with Light Sweet Crude Oil trading at 63.02 dollars per barrel.
In terms of individual stocks, Unipol (+2.82%), ahead of its quarterly results publication, and Azimut (+2.39%) stood out in the main Milan index.
The pharmaceutical sector showed weakness, aligning with the European sectoral trend and affected by possible Trumpian policies in healthcare: Recordati ceded 2.71% and Diasorin retreated by 1.99%.
Selling pressure was also noted on Hera (-1.18%), Stellantis (-0.78%), Nexi (-0.66%), and Campari (-0.62%).
Banking sector performance was mixed: Monte dei Paschi (-0.36%), Popolare di Sondrio (-0.12%), and Banco BPM (-0.05%) were in negative territory, while Unicredit (+1.92%), Intesa Sanpaolo (+1.40%), Generali (+1.40%), Mediobanca (+0.71%), and BPER (+0.23%) shined.
Pirelli was positive (+1.09%) on the day its quarterly accounts were published.
Among mid-capitalization stocks, Juventus surged (+6.59%) following the agreement announced yesterday with Jeep and Visit Detroit. RCS (+5.62%), D`Amico (+5.15%), and Comer Industries (+4.29%) were also prominent. However, Alerion Clean Power suffered a sharp fall, closing at -10.43%, despite confirming its 2025 forecasts and publishing its first-quarter results.